afrol News, 2 November - Almost one month after Guinea-Bissau's army leader Verissimo Correia Seabra was assassinated by mutinous soldiers, the UN Security Council today strongly condemned the killing and the general use of force in the country. The international community should now assist Guinea-Bissau in restructuring its army, the Council said.

In a statement read out in an open meeting by the current Security Council President, Ambassador John Danforth of the United States, the Council condemned in the strongest terms the use of force to settle differences or address grievances in Guinea-Bissau. Neither the country's political parties nor fractions in the army had the right to use force to settle disputes or to seize power.

The Security Council statement also stressed the need for urgent international measures to deal with restructuring of country's armed forces, and to assist the government in tackling the crisis. So far, Guinea-Bissau has mostly received technical aid from the community of Portuguese speaking countries while potential donors are waiting for political stability to return.

On 6 October, actions by mutinous soldiers demanding payment for their peacekeeping deployment in a neighbouring country led to the death of top military officials in Guinea-Bissau. The most prominent persons killed were the Armed Forces Chief of Staff, General Seabra, and the Chief of Human Resources, Colonel Domingos de Barros.

The Security Council today stressed that the Bissau-Guinean government and national authorities must remain committed to the promotion of the rule of law and the fight against impunity, including when considering ways of implementing a memorandum signed on 10 October.

The 10 October memorandum put an end to the mutiny and re-established a situation of law and order in Bissau. This however came at a high price as the mutineers demanded an amnesty for their actions and for all armed forces member regarding incidents during the last decade. The controversial memorandum thus provides impunity for several coups, coup attempts and fractional fighting.

The mutiny happened at a time when Guinea-Bissau is in a transition process to re-establish democracy and political stability - a process initiated by General Seabra after his coup one year ago. The Security Council today urged all political parties to continue working, in good faith, with national authorities to complete implementation of the Transitional Charter before the holding of the foreseen presidential elections by April 2005.

As the Bissau-Guinean government addresses the military, political, institutional and economic problems responsible for recurrent political turmoil and instability in Guinea-Bissau, the UN Security Council underlined the importance of addressing their "root causes", as well as finding immediate solutions to improve the situation.

The Security Council also asked Secretary-General Kofi Annan to include in his next report on UN peace-building mission in Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS) and suggestions on what contribution the UN could make towards an active and coordinated international effort to assist the country. UNOGBIS was established in March 1999 to coordinate the efforts of the UN after the civil strife of the late 1990s.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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